We present a characterization of the protostar embedded within the BHR7 dark cloud, based on both photometric measurements from the near-infrared to millimeter and interferometric continuum and molecular line observations at millimeter wavelengths. We find that this protostar is a Class 0 system, the youngest class of protostars, measuring its bolometric temperature to be 50.5~K, with a bolometric luminosity of 9.3~L$_{odot}$. The near-infrared and textit{Spitzer} imaging show a prominent dark lane from dust extinction separating clear bipolar outflow cavities. Observations of $^{13}$CO ($J=2rightarrow1$), C$^{18}$O ($J=2rightarrow1$), and other molecular lines with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) exhibit a clear rotation signature on scales $<$1300~AU. The rotation can be traced to an inner radius of $sim$170~AU and the rotation curve is consistent with an R$^{-1}$ profile, implying that angular momentum is being conserved. Observations of the 1.3~mm dust continuum with the SMA reveal a resolved continuum source, extended in the direction of the dark lane, orthogonal to the outflow. The deconvolved size of the continuum indicates a radius of $sim$100~AU for the continuum source at the assumed distance of 400~pc. The visibility amplitude profile of the continuum emission cannot be reproduced by an envelope alone and needs a compact component. Thus, we posit that the resolved continuum source could be tracing a Keplerian disk in this very young system. If we assume that the continuum radius traces a Keplerian disk (R$sim$120~AU) the observed rotation profile is consistent with a protostar mass of 1.0~$M_{odot}$.
تحميل البحث